German "Spotify Clone" Pairs With Social Network

Amidst the Spotify drama, its German clone Simfy has collaborated with the country's largest social network. Now the 16M users on StudiVZ will gain access to the free, ad-supported desktop app.

What if Spotify partnered with Facebook?

The music service is also launching a new student price point of €6.99 for its premium edition. Since Spotify isn't available in Germany, Simfy seems to have decided to fill the void. What's interesting though – beyond the fact that Spotify has a "German clone" – is the imagined partnerships that the music service could pursue once in the US. Is it possible that Sean Parker's relationship to both companies could provide grounds for collaboration? It's one thing to launch Spotify in the US and fight the uphill battle of raising awareness like RDIO and MOG have. It's quite another if Spotify was able to partner with Facebook the way that Simfy did with StudiVZ, enabling them to quickly establish a large profile.

Perhaps, the entrance of Spotify into the US market won't make as big of a splash as we all have hoped. Maybe they will never get to launch here at all. But it's easy to imagine the small revolution that would follow if the entire Facebook community caught wind of Spotify all at once. If students were given a reasonable price point, would they still bother with torrenting? Of course, since they have more time than money. However, a partnership between Facebook and a music service like Spotify could prove to be the next windfall needed to interest fans in music and get them to pay for it, or, at least, get them to listen to some ads.